melissa: hi melissa frances lori: i am lori rothman. don't call a come back. better than expected earnings and that the housing report and the second day of testimony for ben bernanke. melissa: what should that apple shareholder meeting do with its $137 billion in cash? we will bring you the latest as ceo tim cook addresses investors. lori: in two days the sequester

it. will you even notice? we are cutting through the sky is falling hype just ahead. melissa: new fears rising gas prices could spark the stock sell-off. chief market strategist jeff kleincop on the stock market peak. time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes on the floor of the stock exchange, nicole petallides standing by. the down near the high of the day. nicole: we are right now f-1437, high of the day was 1441. as you noted a couple points away from our highs of the day, we are up 137 points. it is a broad based rally. when you check the dow jones industrials, those 30 names, 29 of 30 are actually in the green with the exception of hewlett-packard, shows you we have retail stocks, drug stocks, industrials, bank stocks with up arrows on a day when the fear index is pulling back and actually down 12%.

monday afternoon when the vix was surging 35% going into the closing bell, monday sold off 2 and the points and yesterday gained back some of that and here we are gaining back some more. we are almost where we started as far as economic news, durable-goods, pending home sales, ben bernanke cautiously optimistic about housing and the like and a little bit of relief pertaining to europe and italian bond auctions that went a little better than expected and as a result we are seeing a weaker dollar and globally things feel a little better at the moment. lori: breaking news. apple ceo tim cook says he is not happy with the fall in stock price either. here's a look at apple trading right now, down $3 almost today. shares picking $700 a share back in september. adam shapiro live outside apple headquarters in california with much more on the ceo's comments. adam: the meeting will wrap up momentarily in a few minutes,

but there are several new headlines to share with you as tim cook response to questions about the competition from samsung but most importantly the $137 billion in cash and david einhorn adds attempt to get the board of directors to issue preferred shares and tim cook's response which is the shareholders vote on the preferred shares issue was withdrawn promising mr. cook did earlier in the meeting that they will get a chance in the future to do this but he was asked specifically if the lawsuit is silly and this is a quote from tim cook, i absolutely do. the lawsuit was not whether apple should return money but shareholder rights. everyone get a vote? in my way kenya's, regardless how the judge rules, catch allocation is a serious subject we are heavily involved with. tim cook addressed any issue regarding the plunge in apple's share price from $705 down to $432 $9,449 always in the last 52 weeks.

he was asked about innovation and what they're doing and talked about innovation being the north star. he spoke about $24 billion in revenue and a specific question about the iphone and samsung as it competes with apple in the smart phone market and he said we invest in things we think are great to do, quote, winning for us isn't making the most. that is not our objective. we want to make the best. we stay focused on a few products and pointed out of iphone sales are up 70% year over year. we spoke with shareholders before they went into the meeting on these issues, drop in the share price when their dividends should be increased and whether -- here's what they told us. >> in this case the company does not need to raise capital and from what i understand apple

really doesn't have any reason in the near future anyway to even issued preferred stock. >> i you hanging on to? employee for 21 years and several times we didn't have any money? and decide what to do with as they need it and they needed? adam: the board of directors, protecting $137 billion in cash and he said in regards to that as well as competition from samsung we are keeping an eye on the competition, there's a but we could press to make more but we want to make the best. back to you, laurie and melissa. melissa: they should come up with the next big thing. where is the encore from apple? let's bring in our tech reporter shibani joshi. what do you make of tim quote's comments? shibani: he really sideswiped the issue, that $137 billion in cash, not giving any indication of specific uses, explaining you

have to be focused as an investor on the long term specifically new product categories, you and melissa were saying show me the i.t. products and there will be the new television sets and the new i watch possibly but these are products that are not going to make it to store shelves until the end of this year, maybe 2014-2015. we are in this middle ground where apple is seeing its share price decline to a 52 week low, hit an all-time high, 705 in september, losing $250 billion in market cap. it has got this cash. david einhorn wants some of it. to make up for the fact the stock has dropped 40%. they have this dividend at $2.50, but it isn't enough specifically because of the catalysts that are not on a short-term rise in. long term is good if you are a long-term investor but in the short term a lot of investors want some sort of capital appreciation and that is a

specific issue that was sideswiped by tim cook. lori: apple shares right now down 35% from their all-time high in september and large cap growth opportunities, how gold seen is taking notice. apple overweight in that fund but the stake has been reduced. investors be worried? this large cap growth opportunity fund has been outperforming years but in january was only of 12.5% versus the s&p which is a 16 and 1/2%. the you blame apple for that decline? >> thanks for the question. apple certainly is one of the things that has contributed to our recent challenges. like with any company that is down 35% we are going to take notice and we are going to consider how that impact is going forward. it is not the only thing but was

an important thing. lori: you pair of your investment in apple by about half if i'm not mistaken. tell me what led up to the decision to make that move? >> less than that. we did reduce our overweight. incidentally we had an over way in this company for the last eight years and it is important to remember that from a shareholder's standpoint from a customer -- i am a devoted apple customer as well. from an employee's standpoint this company has made enormous contributions to those constituents over the last eight years. what made us change is the earnings outlook is lacking clarity. you talked about it on your show already just before i got on and for sure that lack of earnings growth clarity is the big uncertainty at this point. lori: are you annoyed by the late breaking development that

as shibani joshi put it, the ceo virtually sideswiped the question of what to do with it. >> they do have $146 of cash per share and they have been making moves toward reducing some of that cash base. remember two thirds of it is outside the united states so there are some complicating repatriation tax issues associated with it. i view that as they are being a victim of their own success, generating so much cash because the i phone profitability is so staggeringly high that they are a victim of their own success. [talking over each other] lori: you have the disaster with the mapping system and management shake-up that resulted, a poor earnings reporr, issued with free cash, all kinds of criticisms so what is the positive catalyst that will turn the shares around?

you sound so bullish on shares of apple. what you most optimistic about? >> it is not unreasonable to expect this company to innovate. the fact the we don't know what categories that is going to be or what specific products that is going to be or what form of cash distribution will be forthcoming -- lori: a you worried about the encore, and -- >> it has enormous profitability, represents fantastic growth for the company, but i believe it is not wrong to anticipate more will come particularly when the stock is as cheap -- the record of innovation the company has brought. lori: thanks so much.

melissa: ben bernanke holding his ground on a good stimulus program, live report from capitol hill. lori: a possible time table to get the dreamliner back in the air. check medals as we get to the bright, bold breakdown and that is more after this. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets.

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lori: ben bernanke just wrapping up day ii of questions on capitol hill taking heating grease from congressman on the economy and our country's mounting debt. peter barnes joins us with the wrap up. two days of intense questioning but ben bernanke is quote cool as a cucumber.

>> like he is teaching a class at princeton keeping students in line. he did once again defending this bed -- stimulus by the fed, quantitative easing and low-interest rate cut came under criticism for keeping short-term interest rates and helping keep interest rates low because that has hurt savers and plenty of constituents of these members of congress, and ben bernanke -- as the economy improves and and the stock market is up over the last two years and double in the last two years. and retirees, and one is a 9-year-old mother. >> i don't understand how you can give that advice or increase the stock market is a positive indicator of your work in a cost-benefit analysis in the economy. >> i was not giving financial

advice. i apologize if i give that impression. >> what should you be doing in the benefit to the seniors and what should we say to seniors? >> what i was saying was the economy will get stronger because of good policies kamakura in a sustainable way. >> the big one was the sequester and spending cuts that are living will be coming on friday, and the president don't cut a deal, and ben bernanke wants to cut a deal to limit the impact which might hurt economic growth if they stay in place. tracy: peter barnes in washington. melissa: nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange with the dow 130 points. nicole: a lot of up arrows on

wall street, and let's start off with target. a familiar name. target is up 1%, and greg stein, and not as good as he hoped. and the highly promotional environment, and how much people would need to spend on it. they gave an outlook that looks better, so they do see a solid year ahead. coach now still in the way of executives for nike trying to figure out a fancier way to show their wares, delving into not pushing huge, something you don't think of when you think of coach, more leather goods and leather accessories so trying to expand what they have to offer. lori: thanks so much. melissa: the faa grounded room is denying reports test flights of the boeing 787 dreamliner will begin soon. news reports of the alleged points started appearing after

boeing presented a battery system fix to the faa last week but the faa maintains these reports are, quote, completely inaccurate. it says it will not provide a date for when the dreamliners will be cleared for takeoff but it won't be until they are, quote, convinced it is safe. shares of boeing climbing nicely on today's trade. [talking over each other] lori: getting your hands on the next big thing, for google glass. we will tell you how much. melissa: down 44 points, seriously, not just your wallet feeling the pinch, and why stocks are at risk, coming up. look at how the dollar is the market is up 130 and you can see it is weaker against all currencies. we will be right back. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade

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>> 21 miss past the hour. chuck hegel, and the new secretary of defense. the former nebraska senator and vietnam combat veteran was sworn in at the pentagon today. and a $46 billion mandatory

budget cuts that are scheduled to take place friday. the vatican today the first pope to resign in 600 years. and 140 people in st. peter's square. pope benedict xvi will step down and 2:00 eastern time. candidate of new pope will be selected has not announced. the statue of liberty and ellis island have been closed since superstorm sandy in october. interior secretary can salazar says repair work is continuing at a historic site by the security screening process for visitors has to be resolved before reopening date can be set. we have to find other things to do with people visiting yes. melissa: those are the headlines, thank you. gas prices continue to rise but could that mean more than a drain on your wallet? my next guest says if they continue to climb they could take the market. [talking over each other]

melissa: this was really interesting. you put together ten factors that contribute to a slide in stocks, one of them was gas prices. let's talk about that first. what is the range that become the danger and how come? >> looking over the last of years it was between 380 and 4 can. when prices got into that range it fuelled a pullback in the stock market. melissa: put a moratorium to get through, go ahead. >> that is the danger zone and not so much gasoline prices alone that contribute to the market will back, it weakens the economic backdrop. i point out every ten cents gasoline prices rise shaved $10 billion of of consumers' after-tax income. it weakens the backdrop, makes us more vulnerable to of shock that might come out of europe or washington d.c. that could have

allies. melissa: you are paying it to oil companies that reinvest and it is not like it is going away. >> doesn't they arise. 70% of the economy is consumer spending and their feeling that it from the payroll tax increase pulling back on their available spending. this is another drag on top of that. the month of march most often in the market by the retailers, and that is in part, tax refunds and a number of reasons, and that put that at risk. and contributing to overall weakness. melissa: is a regression analysis or commonly expected thing to do other people think that? what makes you think 385 is the magic number? >> if you look back over the last two years, that is the thresholds crossed into an area

where it just reseeded the big market pullbacks. not that it drove them but got into an area, and vulnerable to a shock. melissa: un ten fact is you highlighted. there was that consumer confidence, that is a clear wong, revisions to wall street analyst earnings estimates, the yield curve, the l p l financial current condition index, bid one. how many analysts have to take a marketing your opinion? >> last year it was six of ten and in the prior two years was the vast majority of nine or ten but last year the same spring slide only with six indicators, usually two months before the slide indicating it was to come. we are watching closely this year -- [talking over each other] melissa: we are almost out of time. how are we doing on those indicators? on the gas line we're really

close, just looking at $3.79 and $3.85 as the bad spot. that is scary and listings turnaround and we see futures lie a little bit so maybe we will get some relief. what about the other ones? how close are they to the dangers and? >> crosser our fingers on gasoline. the economic surprise index is beginning to roll over. analysts, wall street, revisions for earnings expectations coming council number of these are starting to turn negative but it is in march and april we want to watch the most closely and that is where they send their signals last couple years. melissa: i hope you will give us an update on these factors because this is interesting research. thanks for coming on. lori: what would you do if you had google glass? how about sell it on ebay? that is what one of the winners of google's contest if i had glass is doing. google giving the public chance to have the privilege to pay $1,500 to get their hands on the high-tech glasses.

the ebay seller calls--upping the stakes giving anyone a chance to buy it. google blast was listed on the day last week and this has received 30 bid and going for $15,500. that will set you back some. is unclear whether google will get involved at the end of the option but until they do it sure seems one lucky bidder will be talking to friends with the blink of the i. [talking over each other] lori: not 15 grand, that is for sure. the conversation about apple and what is coming next begs the question what is going to be the next hottest greatest thing in technology. our memory is very short. melissa: very true. counting down to what? washington morning of the automatic spending cuts to go into effect on friday. have you heard about this? what it really means to you and me. that is what we wonder. lori: i want to know if anyone is eating at mcdonald's or some fast food in the studio because

-- [talking over each other] melissa: charlie gasparino up next with new details on the intercontinental exchange's plan for the nyse. checking who is up and who's down on the dow today, a dallas up 130 points at the moment.

lori: stocks news as we do every 15 minutes. back to the floor of the new york stock exchange and nicole petallides. dow is fighting for that 14,000 mark. we're above it. one never knows how a session may wrap up. >> that's right. we're at the 140 points. it is worth noting. we've had a majority of the dow components. basically 29 of the 30 have been in the green with the exception of hewlett-packard. we've had all up arrows for

banks, retailers, for drugs. we've obviously seen oil services doing well. the transports have been holding on. we have had plenty of winners. names like boeing and jpmorgan have helped things along. last he can check when you were adding 17 points. jpmorgan ten points. lots of winners. i want to look at john deere. look at deer. up 1.3%, for the 11th time since 2004, raising the dividend again to 51 cents. that is up five cents. that is roughly an 11% raising of the dividend for deere which is winner today as well. back to you. lori: heck, i will go out and buy a tractor. that's great. melissa: you will buy a tractor? lori: can you see me riding a traator? melissa: yeah, that would be awesome. lori: i don't know if i can reach the food pad dals. the gas pedal. tomorrow is the deadline for the you know it sequester. we're looking at possible economic disaster or more high drama in washington?

rich edson is here now. rich? >> at least they announced a meeting. the automatic spending cuts hit the federal budget. the top democrat and republican in the house and senate are scheduled to meet with the president obama. the white house says they will discuss the need for a balanced plan, tax increases and spending cuts to replace across the board government cuts beginning on friday. republicans suggest that is little more than a photo-opportunity. on white house, and democrat continue to warn of significant consequence if republicans fail to sign off than their proposal. >> republicans appear poised to make the biggest mistake at all. they let the sequester painful, arbitrary cuts take effect. across the country, meat inspectors, fbi agents, border patrol agents will be furloughed. >> it is absurd the government can not get by with a little more than a 2% reduction in spending when every working american -- >> senate votes tomorrow on

democratic an republican bills to replace the automatic spending cuts. neither is likely to pass. back to you. lori: so rich, is the senate doing what john boehner told it to do, to get off its rear? >> i saw them walking around. so literally yes. melissa: wrel done. very quick. i like that. all right. ratings agency fitch, saying the sequester won't prompt a negative ratings action for the u.s. are the consequences of cuts being overblown in washington? fox contributor juan williams joins me with his take. thanks for coming on the show. >> my pleasure. melissa: if you're watching this, this is the story of the day today, seems a game of gotcha with the different white house surrogates who come out and said planes will fall out of the sky, to the point jon stewart is piling on. he did a whole bit about how silly it is this idea they will not give kids shots and kids celebrating about that. even the ap did a whole roundup on how silly this was. do you think that it was a

bad idea tax particularly and politically to be overdramatic perhaps about what it could mean? >> no. it is politics and, you know, you're playing on poll numbers, melissa. so a lot of poll numbers, for example, right now, there's a pew poll out says, 52% of americans think, you know, the sequestration is a bad idea. that they don't like that approach. now you also have to recall though, americans overwhelmingly think we need to do something about the debt in this country that is just out of control and they fear it will have implications for future generations. let's put that aside for a second. just on pure politics the democrats want to drama advertise this to fairly well the to point jon stewart will mock them. they're making a clear impression. the argument extend to wall street, in terms of will it have consequence whether the ratings agencies or in terms of the stock market and could it damage our economy? melissa: we are so far from the next election for everyone, you know, and people's memories are so short. does it matter whether the

public thinks it is a big deal or not? or should these guys be focused on what they are actually going to do? >> it does matter because here we are all very sensitive, like a, an earthquake monitor. we listen to the polls and to public response. that is why obama, president obama has been on essentially a campaign trek doing this hyping of the potential damage, to try to push the numbers so that republicans especially, republicans from moderate districts, would say, hey, we can't afford to stay hard-lined against president obama in these negotiations. but he has not had success. melissa: yeah. no, i mean you make a great point, you are inside these guys heads. you understand them from there better than we do from here. so what is your opinion whether or not something will get done here or when it will get done or how close we are? >> so here's the deal right now. the republicans will remain hard-line on this. you will have sequestration

take effect march 1st. you will have basically, as you were describing earlier, the photo on friday with the leaders and president obama at the white house. but i think right there, what they will say is, you know what? don't think the sky's going to fall on march 1st. instead we'll look at bigger deal going towards towards march deadline for budget and continuing resolution and we are engaged in some kind of negotiations. so i think that is going to be the message to the american people, in terms of trying to hold up consumer sentiment and secondly to the markets in terms of investor confidence. we're talking, don't think the world ends on march 1st. but reality is that sequestration is going to impact us. it is going to happen. melissa: give that do you think it was a mistake on the president's part, when republicans said we'll give you more latitude? you talked about devastating to cut back things for little kids, we'll give you latitude, and decide what you want to cut, we'll change the rules here? should he have taken them up

on that offer? >> that would have been a sucker's game. then he is one get blamed by voters for any cuts or programs that did get cut or didn't get cut. do you close this army or navy base or you don't. did you cut this program for kids but versus the program for grandma. that is how politicians think. why should i get the blame? melissa: that is politics. that is not solving the problem. it is so frustrating, juan, i don't know how you do it. thanks so much. >> i want to see a picture of you two driving the tractor. melissa: we'll do that. >> like ""green acres"". melissa: that's it. you ask, you shall receive. we'll get that to you. lori: he is easy to please. juan williams, always a pleasure. he want to direct your attention back to the market. we're in full-on rally mode. the dow at session highs with a gain of 138 points. well over 14,000. there is the chart a look at 30 dow component stocks. that is one name down. that is hewlett-packard. the other 29 issues are

posting gains today. you can thank federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, his second day of the formerly referred to as humphrey-hawkins testimony. he took tough questions from congress but was cool as a cucumber, stood his ground. it's all hands on deck. we're continuing the accommodative policy, low interest rates, the asset purchases, qe infinity. we'll continue. stock market loves that. the wealth effect. only place to get yield. at least that is the impression of investors these days. all right, a moment of truth for jcpenney. the struggling retailer is out with earnings after the bell. we'll tell you what you need it know before that report. melissa: is the king of beers more of a court jester. we'll tell you why budweiser drinkers are suing over what they deem is a cruel joke. look at 10-year and 30-year treasury as we head out to break. you see the yield falling one basis point on the ten-year. we'll be right back. with the spark miles card from capital one,

bjorn earns unlimited rewas for his small business take theseags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjors small busiss earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve limited reward here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? >> i'm dennis kneale with your fox business brief. we are in rally mode. pending home sales rose more than expected in january to their highest level since april 2010. national association of realtors says sales rose 4.5% from december. keep in mind, generally one, two month lag between signed contracts and completed sale. that report sending homebuilder stocks higher. despite back-to-back reasons gains, the stocks are on

track to finish february in the red. a new study says advertisers will spend more on social media ads in 2013 than ever before. the study found u.s. advertisers plan to spend more than $4 billion. 64% want to boost their social media budget this year. but e market reports social media advertising lags far behind other ad channels. these the latest from fox business, giving you the power to prosper.

lori: could the man in charge of the international stock exchange get rid of the new york stock exchange just after buying the iconic marketplace? senior correspondent charlie gasparino here with exclusive new details. >> i can tell you just about every banker and every market participant in this space known as the exchange space, there is lots of activity as we were first to report. nasdaq held talks with

carlisle. there is lot of stuff going on in terms of buying and selling, mergers and acquisitions but these people are clearly pointing to the potential and very real potential that jeff sprekter at some point, the ceo of the ice unclouds -- unloads cash equities business. it has a lot stuff going on the european derivatives business which essentially what he always wanted. it has data. it has communications t also has the cash equities business which is listings of stocks and market making of stocks that is decidedly low margin business. as you know, you list once. you pay the fee and kind of move on. you might pay some recurring fees. but they're not that high. market making has gone off exchanges. it has gone to the black pools or dark pools as they're known. lori: no more stock trading at new york stock exchange? is that what you're saying? >> this is what is people are saying that sprecher is doing this.

a lot of people are talking to could be a consortium of banks, people that do provide what order flow goes to the new york stock exchange might buy that again i'm getting this from fairly informed sources. we should point out i pressed the ice and sprecher on this they basically said they have no intention of selling it right now. but i'll tell you there is lot of writing on the walls, a lot of tea reading going on in the marketplace. after some sort of point this thing goes for a year or so, it is set to close in i believe the third quarter of this year. that's when sprecher makes his move. he will probably not keep it. it doesn't fit in with his business model which is an electronic exchange basically matching high margin sort of commodities and other things of that nate ture competing directly with the deutsche boerse. another thing he hates being regulated by securities & exchange commission. another couple interesting facts. it closes in the third quarter. duncan duncan niederauer,

the other architect of that deal that happened late last years is verbally committed. he will stay through 2014. i can tell you a lot of people tell me that you know, when this thing closes, look for his exit as well out of there. and that might be the beginning of the unravel. i mean, listen, if he is going to unravel, look to see when duncan niederauer leaves. if he keeps it, if he, if he what he says he is, intent on keeping it, making it work, downsizing, maybe right-sizing that business, cutting the expenses out, okay, maybe duncan stays. if you see duncan as a lot of people think he will do bolt out of there after the deal closes in the third quarter of this year, soon after that, that is a good sign that the new york stock exchange is going to be further sold, the part that we all know, the cash equities business. lori: charlie, many thanks. >> okay. melissa: so it is quarter to. as we do every 15 minutes let's check the markets. nicole petallides is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, we're nearing the

highs of the day up 137. >> moments ago we took out intraday high again. we traded as high as 14,046. we're not at five-year highs. we're getting closer and closer to reaching all-time highs we saw back in 2007. look at major market averages all up about 1% each. i want to keep a close eye on jcpenney. down 1 1/2%, reporting after the bell today. we know they're in a thick court battle, ron johnson versus the ceo of macy's all involved pertaining to martha stewart products, right? who really has the right to the martha stewart products? that is something that continues to be ongoing. ron johnson has to obviously contend with the tough, tough numbers we've seen for sales. they took away promotions. they didn't have the customers. the stock is down 50% over the last year or some an uphill battle for jcpenney to say the least. back to you. melissa: nicole, thanks so

much. coming up at 4:00 p.m. eastern catch all the action on "after the bell." you can't afford to miss that. lori: don't wear the beer goggles. people are wondering if bud weiser not giving you the buzz it used to on purpose. a five million dollar class-action lawsuit claims the brewer is watering down ten of its beer brands, bud and michelob. it alleges the beer is getting water down to boost profits but the company flatly denies the claim saying the lawsuit is groundless. you don't drink budweiser though? melissa: no. not much of a beer gal. are you beer gal? lori: of course. i like the craft beers, yeah. melissa: good for you. okay. lori: from king of the beers to king of the world, we'll tell you about new plans to recreate the titanic 101 years later. melissa: oil prices coming back after the weekly inventory report. we'll head to the cme for today's trade. look at winners and losers for the nasdaq as we head

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melissa: oil prices climbing after the weekly inventory data showed a smaller than expected build in supplies. let's get to sandra smith at the cme and today's trade. sandra. >> hey, melissa, hey, lori. because of the significant close we had yesterday, the lowest close of 2013. not the case today. we're higher. then we're lower. we're back higher again in today's trading session. this is a result of traders really reacting to the latest inventory data coming out from the government. smaller than expected rise

in crude supplies. this meaning that we got a crude inventory build of 1.1 million barrels. the expected build was 2.6 million barrels. this of course according to the energy information administration. crude oil prices for the month by the way, have fallen about 5%. year-to-date, however, still holding onto just a slight gain, up just about 1/10 of 1% so far in 2013. other wise, guys, look at the rest of the energy inventory where energy products that trade at cme, right now natural gas is number one winner on the cme group here in chicago, up 1.3% on the session. crude oil prices up with it. but do to the downside, heating oil and rbob gasoline. remember rochlt bob is the wholesale gasoline price we pay at the pump. rochlt bob gasoline is down big-time as.

we're up slightly on the session. right off 2013 lows. everybody is watching the energy market today. back to you. melissa: sandra, thanks so much. lori: let's hope they stock up on lifeboats this time around. australian billionaire clive parker unveiling plans for the titanic ii. a modern day rep flick can of famous ship that sank more than 100 years ago. it features some update but will recreate many of the design or core or of the original ship. no tv or internet. they will be given 1912 style clothing to wear. that will be uncomfortable. three passenger classes will be prevented from mingling on board. that is no fun. they are planning to sail in 2016 with more than 40,000 people already submitting applications for maiden voyage. melissa: really. lori: one of the people behind the plan is the descend and of unsinkable

molly brown. you can't call titanic ii unsingable for obvious reasons. melissa: we'll have live coverage from austin, texas all day as jpmorgan ceo jamie dimon hits the boardroom and hits the road to get an on the ground take what is happening at his bank. at 5:00 p.m. i will have exclusive interview with dimon you don't want to miss. all day long i will give you coverage. he has a bird's-eye view into everything going on in the economy. whether it is retail banking. how people are spending money. what they're doing with credit cards, mortgages. lori: and the banking industry itself, a lot of layoffs they're talking about, right? melissa: that's right. news broke a short time ago about lawmakers wanting to tax trades. we'll get his reaction. it is the eve of the sequester and who better to talk to someone the king of the financial world. all day tomorrow. lori: on "the pulse." you have got him. melissa: don't miss a minute of it. lori: we still have trading to go. it is an exciting day if you're a bull. automatic spending cuts, looming large. what's the next move to cut our massive federal deficit?

congressman bill johnson and bill delaney will debate the issue next with tracy byrnes and ashley webster. don't miss it. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats.

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until i lost my credit and eventually i lost my home. >> announcer: credit monitoring is not enough, because it tells you after the fact, sometimes as much as 30 days later. with lifelock, as soon as our network spots a threat to your identity, you'll get a proactive risk alert, protecting you before you become a victim. >> identity theft was a huge, huge problem for me and it's gone away because of lifelock. >> announcer: while no one can stop all identity theft, if criminals do steal your information, lifelock will help fix it, with our $1 million service grantee. the next victim. you become you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free. that's right60 days risk-free. use promo code: gethelp. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now.

call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock ptection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call t number on your screen now! >> good afternoon, i'm tracy byrnes. ashley: i'm ashley webster. monday's selloff, it has been erased. stocks surge on solid housing and retail numbers lifting the dow back above the 14,000 mark. and within as you can see, oh, about 125 points of the all-time high. we're tracking this rally all hour. tracy: yeah, good stuff. and apple ceo tim cook not happy with the company's stock price. there's a shocker. but he is not worried about the future and he will tell you why coming up. ashley: of course that is what he would say. billions in automatic spending cuts seem more

likely than ever. will congress do anything to change them before or after the deadline? congressman bill johnson and john delaney will be debating that very issue in just moments. tracy: but it is top of the hour. time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. up 140 points, that's a good day. >> pretty amazing considering on monday there were so many worries about europe. we had a extremely strong dollar. there were worries about italy. we sold off 200 points. fast forwarding to washington this friday. there are a lot of uncertainties on the market and thus a big selloff on monday. we managed to bounce back 100 points. we're up 140 points here pushing to session highs. you have names like caterpillar adding 15 points. boeing adding 15 points. ibm adding 15 points. so far so good. the vix is taking a breather. how about names hitting all-time highs?

you have 13 names on the s&p 500 hitting 52-week highs or all-time highs. general mills, all-time high again. kellogg's, all-time high again. and what about clorox. they're consumer staples. they're a necessity. regardless of a tough economy or weaker market you will see those types of names doing better and those type of defensive plays are ones that thrive. now that you have a market moving higher you're getting new highs. very different than yesterday where you only had two names. back to you. tracy: good stuff, nicole. we'll see you in 15 minutes. ashley: apple ceo tim cook says the company is committed to making the best products but also says they're keeping a close eye on the competition. our adam shapiro is live outside the company's headquarters in cupertino, california with more. adam? >> ashley, as mr. cook addressed issues from shareholders he talked about the drop in the stock price from $705 down to $449 was the close yesterday. he talked about the need to keep an eye on samsung.

but that apple is not interested as you said in making the most but making the best. he talked about the $137 billion that apple sits on and how to appropriately return that to shareholders and how not to return that in the form of the lawsuit that was brought forth by david einhorn and preferred shares and talk about all of that is some one who knows first-hand why this issue hits home. ann simpson is the director of global governance. she is mother of three. and a mother of 1.6 million, that is enrolled in calpers. your organization was behind the drive to get the board of directors at apple, some would say relinquish final say on prefered shares to shareholders. eventually as mr. cook said you will get that vote. why is that important? >> because shareholders own the company. we provide the capital. we're going to be here for the long term. we do not like it when directors reserve the right to issue what are called blank checks. would you do that?

if you invested in a company, would you want the company to be able to hand over your money without coming back to ask you what you think about that? >> shares of apple have fallen almost 40% in the last 52 weeks. mr. einhorn raises a legitimate point, that wouldn't issuing prefered shares raise value of stock even for common shareholders? >> i think our view is we're not looking at short term volatility in the share price. we're much more concerned to get good governance in place. make sure share owner rights are strong and where they ought to be. then the board can focus on what it does, create value. which is getting the best possible products developed and that is a long-term question. you can't make something out of nothing. you can't pull a rabbit out of the a hat and magic the share price back up. what will support the share price is good long-term strategy by the company and an efficient capital structure t let's not have quick, quick deals on the side. act in haste, repent at least sure.

so we're delighted that our view was backed by over 98% of the votes. which could not be cast today. that is rather sad, isn't it? >> we have to wrap up. miss simpson, thanks for joining us. to put this all into perspective, 137 billion in cash. calpers 255 billion under management. apple is peanuts to calpers. back to you, ashley. ashley: adam shapiro thanks so much. take a look at the intraday chart as the shareholders meeting is going on. the stock is down more than five bucks. down 1.25%. it crossed 700 bucks back in september. it has been quite a precipitous fall since then then. tracy: yeah. military schools, airport security, border patrol agents those are some things that could be impacted should sequestration cuts go into effect. one more day for lawmakers to figure out a solution, five bucks said, that is not happening. okay. will they be able to stop the $85 billion in spending

cuts? rich edson in washington. that is a rhetorical question, right? >> yeah. at least not by friday, no. you know, tomorrow the senate likely votes on democratic and republican bills to replace these automatic spending cuts. neither is likely to pass. on friday congressional leaders, the top democrats and republicans in the house and senate are scheduled to meet with president obama at the white house. the administration says the president will push for a balanced plan, tax increases and spending cuts to replace across the board government cuts beginning friday. republicans describe the meeting scheduled yesterday and occurring the day the cuts begin as little more than a photo-opportunity. this morning the white house continued painting republicans as obstructionist who are allowing consequential cuts to save the wealthy from higher taxes. >> the choice that republicans would be making if they don't agree to that, is a choice between up to 750,000 people losing their jobs on the one hand, and asking special interests tax

loopholes be closed on the other. >> when the president goes off on a campaign for higher taxes instead of working with republicans to replace the sequester with smarter cuts, and when senate democrats put forward tax hike gimmicks instead of negotiating serious spending cuts solutions, americans feel like they're not being listened to. >> although congressional leaders are scheduled to meet at the white house friday, their colleagues will likely be back home. congress is scheduled to be out on friday. back to you. tracy: that's convenient. rich edson, thank you very much. ashley: yeah, no kidding. our next guests agree something needs to be done to prevent the mandatory spending cuts from going into effect. here to discuss how both sides can reach a deal are republican congressman bill johnson of ohio and democratic congressman john delaney of maryland and thank you both for joining us. here we are coming to the 11th hour. congressman johnson, is it just a photo-op tomorrow? tomorrow as the president has these congressional

leaders come to chat? >> well, you know, i can't say whether or not it's a photo-op but it certainly is political posturing because here we sit on the eve virtually of sequester taking effect. this is the president's proposal. he proposed sequester. he signed it into law. and if he wants to stop these cuts from occurring the way that they're occurring all he has got to do is come to the table with responsible spending cuts that will offset them and we'll be glad to listen because we've done that twice already. ashley: congressman delaney, respond to that. you, republicans say look, the president got his tax hikes last month. let's talk about spending cuts? >> i mean i think we need to talk about everything. what the country needs is a large-scale deal to deal with our fist call trajectory in the short term and the long term and everything has to be on the table. we definitely need cuts. the sequester is not the right way to do it.

it may be the right level of cuts but it is definitely not implemented the right way. we need to deal with our entitlement programs which is quite frankly the largest driver of our fiscal trajectory over time and we need additional revenues. revenues at this stage of our economy are at all-time lows. we are need all these things and anyone that comes to the table that says we need all the components to solve problem is not putting for the a credible solution. ashley: congressman delaney, a follow-up. if the automatic spending cuts kick in, nobody pays any attention it goes largely unnoticed. would that give more energy to the republican cause for more spending cuts? >> well, you know, i think, you know, how this is perceived as opposed to reality of it is not that important. what is really important the reality of it. the sequester was designed to be something that would never happen, right? the country he do serves something better than the sequester. they deserve for their members of congress and the president to look at the

facts and make smart decisions about how we reduce spending, raise revenues, and deal with some of the big drivers of long-term fiscal situation. we're not doing that. whether it is perceived, whatever, however it is perceived in the short term isn't relevant because the facts will not change. the facts are we have to change the fiscal trajectory of the country. i think as merpgs -- americans, what we're supposed to do is look at the fact the and act upon them. we're not supposed to talk about political posturing and deal with the facts. that is not what is going on. ashley: congressman johnson, could the debate overalltic cuts be rolled into the continuing resolution that basically funds the government until march 27th? could this issue then be rolled into that and we get some the is of a final resolution towards the end of march? >> certainly i think it can. i'm very, very pleased to find out that john delaney and i, there is a lot that he said we agree on. you know, that sequester is not the right way to go

about this. that and that's why we offset these cuts with two pieces of legislation last year that we both agree that a bigger deal is needed to address our nation's debt and change the trajectory of our debt. we agree on that. i think where john and i have a little bit of a different opinion is how to generate the revenue side of that spreadsheet. we generate the revenue by putting america back to work and broading the tax base, and having more americans that are paying into the system rather than taxing americans more at a time when our economy is so fragile. i think you will see some action during the, during the cr. i look forward to working with representative delaney and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see if we can't manage this more responsibly. ashley: well, we all hope so. thank you so much. congressman johnson and congressman delaney.

thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you. tracy: a little kumbayah moment there. ashley: a little bit. tracy: look at you. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke is also tackling spending cuts today on capitol hill. peter barnes has details on that next. ashley: stocks in serious rally mode. the dow is up 151 points. how high will it go. first as we do every time this time of day. we look how oil is trading. the nowhere we're moving in tandem with the dow. oil losing slightly again at $92.55 a barrel. we'll be right back. this is $100,000.

we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. ashley: there you go. the record all-time high on the dow, 14,164.5. we're keeping an eye on that. we're in serious rally mode. let's go to nicole

petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole? >> i'm watching it. i'm watching the dow at session highs here. as we speak the dow is up 156 points the dow is right now at the session highs up 1.1%. the s&p up 1.25%. let's talk about names reporting after the bell today, including groupon, jcpenney and limited brands, two of which are retailers. jcpenney? a big battle over the martha stewart products and trying to keep customers coming back to jcpenney. promotional items are back in the picture of jcpenney. ron johnson is fighting an uphill battle. groupon the daily deal website, surprisingly groupon is up over 7% right now. then there is limited brands. you think of limited you think of victoria secret. right now it is up 2.25. over the last three months limited is actually trailing. it is down 11%. these three names over the next couple hours, a little less than couple hours

before the closing bell are ones to watch as highly anticipated earnings are due. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. we'll be back in 15 minutes. don't forget stay tuned to fox business for complete coverage of today's earnings on "after the bell" at 4:00 p.m. eastern. tracy: federal reserve chairman ben bernanke facing some really tough questions on day two of his grilling by congress. many of them multiples of the same questions. peter barnes joins us from washington with the latest. peter, i think they all kind of asked the same question in their own little way. >> yeah, that's right, tracy but you know, guess what the big topic was at the hearing on the house side today? he was over at the senate yesterday. over at the house side today. that is the way it works. it was sequestration. as you know the fed chairman came out and said congress and the white house should work to soften the blow of sequestration, $85 billion in spending cuts starting on march 1st. the fed chairman said maybe it should be more gradual. maybe cut less revenue and maybe raise taxes a little bit. he hasn't gotten specific on

that. that got one conservative republican upset because that republican claimed, well there is money in the budget for he said, moroccan pottery classes and free cell phones and why couldn't that be cut, mr. chairman? take a listen. >> so the revenues that we get from the moroccan pottery classes and $2.2 billion in free cell phones and list goes on, mr. chairman. that is a great driver of economic growth in our country? is that your position? >> most of the spending goes to the military and to transfer programs like social security and medicare. >> and there is lot of fat and you can find 2% doesn't affect the military and doesn't affect --. >> also said in my testimony that not all spending and taxes are the same. >> that's right. the chairman has not been specific on policy moves. he is leaving that up to congress and the white house. he did of course once again defend all the aggressive stimulus programs the fed has launched, qe2, 3, 4, and,

said they're still going to keep going. tracy. tracy: peter, thank you. i love, ash, how congress members thank the chairman for coming. ashley: and just go for him. tracy: like he has got a choice. i'm waking up to go to the mall. ashley: must love the semiannual meetings in front of congress. tracy: thanks for coming. like he wanted to. federal government paying millions to federal workers doing no work for the government. liz mcdonald has the story next. ashley: italy's election, will it make the euro crisis worse? we'll answer that question next. we'll look at the u.s. dollar as we look at new candidates in italy. euro is up against the pound. u.k. pound is up against the dollar at 1.32. a little more weakness in the dollar as the dow continues to rally. we'll be right back

>> it's now 23 minutes past the hour. i'm heather nauert with your fox news minute. pope benedict xvi has officially stepped down. he is the first pope to resign in 600 years. he held his final mass before more than 150,000 people in st. peter's square. benedict will meet with cardinals tomorrow and then

he will head for the papal residence which is just outside rome until his new residence at the vatican is ready. chuck hagel is now the new secretary of defense after a seven week confirmation battle. the former nebraska senator and vietnam combat veteran was sworn in. he visited the pentagon nine 11 memorial before he visited the leaders. former state representative robin kelly winning the democratic primary to run for jesse jackson, jr.'s vacant congressional seat. kelly's campaign was helped by more than $2 million in pro-gun control ads paid by new york city mayor michael bloomberg political action fund. ashley: heather, thanks very much. we appreciate that. italy's borrowing costs are at a four-month high after the first post-election bond sale but it is calming investor fears of a political stalemate, a vacuum if you like in rome

could reignite the eurozone debt crisis. what is next for italy? a little unclear. joining us now, vice president and portfolio manager at oppenheimer funds. thanks for joining us. would it be fair to say that the results of the tallian -- italian election is basically anti-austerity and take that further, anti-german? >> very much agree with your statement. italians have clearly voted against the e.u. imposed austerity and they did it in two forms. they voted down dramatically mario monthty who was the symbol of that as you -- austerity and the e.u. driven reform process. secondly they have voted with incredible, incredible strength and voice the movement of, five-star movement, untie establishment, untie austerity movement that tries to fight the old establishment in italy. ashley: now we have best sawn any from the

center-left party who tries to form a coalition government which of seems next to impossible. so does that raise the specter of another election and how soon would that be? >> that is my opinion. my call is that here, the question is not if, the question is when italy will have early elections and i believe because of some institutional delays, as well as current situation, italy could go to new election between six and 12 months from now. i think earlier than six months it is very difficult because of the institutional situation. but bersani has a very difficult job. he already offered a hand to mr. grillo to form a coalition and mr. grillo turned him down very clearly. now members sawn any ironically enough has to form a coalition with nothing less than mr. berlusconi, the old rival from generations. even the possibility of creating a grand coalition, i don't think we will go very far. the italians have voted

against austerity. i think the reform agenda is off the table. most likely, give hen -- given they will try to win and campaign for the next elections they will probably do some minor forms of fiscal loosening on the policy side to basically listen to what voters said, not this kind of austerity. ashley: right. so the political chaos, does it essentially delay all the reform efforts put in place by mr. monty? >> i think it slows down the future for additional reforms. and on the margin it will probably change in some details some of the reforms that have been accomplished. i don't think we have set up to see a major delay what has been done. i don't think italy an afford that. ashley: interesting. so are the u.s. markets overreacting to what's been going on in italy? obviously they're rallying today but when the outcome of the election was known we saw the u.s. markets react

here. so could more bad headlines out of italy impact the u.s. markets? >> i think the monday reaction was probably fair. because we were perfectly priced for the good outcome and we got the worst possible outcome. on the other hand we don't think italy is systemic like the eurozone crisis was systemic in 2010. ashley: right. >> in 11 and 12. probably this will be a short term dip and a buying opportunity for value-looking investors. that being said, that's for u.s. equity markets. for italian sovereign debt markets and other european debt markets it will probably more volatile ride, more sensitive to the news flow out of the italy. ashley: we'll be keeping a close eye on it for sure. thank you so much. with oppenheimer funds. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. ashley: thank you. tracy: coming up the dow just hit another session high. so what's going to keep this

rally going? we've got a strategist weighing in what he says the most important factor shaping the market right now. ashley: first look at some of today's winners and losers on the s&p as we head to the break.

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comprehensive identity theft protection available today... lifelock ultimate. so for protection you just can't get anywhere else, get lifelock ultimate. >> i didn't know how serious identity theft was until i lost my credit and eventually i lost my home. >> announcer: credit monitoring is not enough, because it tells you after the fact, sometimes as much as 30 days later. with lifelock, as soon as our network spots a threat to your identity, you'll get a proactive risk alert, protecting you before you become a victim. >> identity theft was a huge, huge problem for me and it's gone away because of lifelock. >> announcer: while no one can stop all identity theft, criminals do steal your information, lifelock will help fix it, with our $1 million service guarantee. don'wait until you become the next victim. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free. that's right, 60 days sk-free. use promo code: gethelp. if you're not completely

satisfied, notify lifelock d you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this documenthredder free-- but only if you t right now. call the number on your screen now! ashley: the dow is all green other than one, hp, the only one in the top 30. moving lower, only slightly. to the floor of the new york stock exchange where nicole is standing by. nicole? >> that's right. here with jason of seaport

security. you said it was resilient, had call on earnings way back went when, and we are pushing all-time highs. what do you think? continue? how do you feel? >> i think we keep going on. i mean, the markets have been dealt every negative news headline to throw at it, barring nuclear disaster, and it is absorbed it all. couple that with the earnings you just mentioned. there's nothing, really, to take the market down. people talk about the sequester as a negative. you know what? if it forces them to cut spending, if that's how it's done, that's great for the market also. >> all right. i want to move on to apple. we disclose and you have many times on fox business you are a big fan, tim cooke today talking, not happy with the share price. i can't believe he mentioned that. usual i ceos don't mention the price. how do you feel? >> i'm not happy with the bickering and focus on what they do with the cash. i rather the focus be in press

and invennment community what they do going forward with the actual company itself, innovation. >> right, which some of the shareholders at the meeting are saying. they are less interested in david's green light capital's comments about whatted -- what to do with the cash and just have cash on hand for apple to do bigger and greater things. >> david has a valid point, but not the center of the conversation. what are we doing for apple tv, the wristwatch, and the phone. >> the wristwatch. i remember reading that, and now it's back in my head. good point. we noted 40% off the high, it was a $700 stock in september. back to you guys. ashley: it was. thank you, nicole, see you in 15 minutes. >> the fed chairman ben bernanke defending the fed's policy today. the next guest says ability to keep the housing recovery is way more important than any other m.

joining us now, and we thank you for patiently waiting for us. bob, s&p capital iq vice president. we appreciate you waiting around for this. so, first talk about the market. what do you think? up 163. are we going to keep going? >> as long as we keep getting good news on the economy like ly wh new home with durable goods, transportation today, it shows the feds' policy is maybe putting down roots and showe real growth in the economy, hug. >> is it worth it though? it's expensive to show, finally, a little bit of growth. >> the fed targets housing specifically since last fall, and we believe at global markets research that the fed is trying to promote the u.s. economy by stimulating housing. if it's the only game in town, you want to see it work. there are signs now that it is working. >> i know you work with balance sheets, companies hording cash,

things like that. when do we see that filter its way into the economy? >> well, the trend of increasing cash on the balance sheet for s&p 500 nonfinancials has been in place for a long time, but in the fourth quarter with 30 companies left to report, that's a new record of one and a quarter trillion of cash on the balance sheet. as long as we have earnings growth like we see in the fourth quarter of 2012, 7.8% growth, 4% higher than what we were looking continue to horde cash and put some of it to work. >> yeah, you know, only have countdown clocks of the next deadline in washington. how do you know what to do with yourself? >> the stock market, thankfully, is modestly priced here, 13.5 times forward 12-month earnings, making it resill yept in the face of the stresses like itty, the sequester, the fiscal cliff, the upcoming debate over the debt ceiling, but as long as the stock market remains modestly priced and continue to see earnings growth, the path to the

market should only be higher. >> talk about mna a little bit. we had deals this year, and you've done research that shows there's a correlation between that activity and gdp growth. >> that's right. annual rates of change in activity is 60% correlated with annual change in u.s. gdp growth. it's interesting. it's a coincidence or leading indicator. it doesn't surprise us to see a fast pace of deal making so far in the first quarter this year because the economy looks to be doing okay. >> are the deals one off, though? many of theme, the buffet thing, oh, just needed something to do; right? we knew dell was going private. things like this have been in the works for awhile. >> the megadeals were notably ab sent in 2012. >> right. >> they are coming back in the first quarter of 2013. the key is you want robust activity making throughout the year. if it falls off, there's a return of cautious, caution in decision making -- in -- for the

balance of the year. >> see the big companies or little companies? >> ideally both. the bigger the deal, the bigger the market place. >> from where you sit now, do you think the ttends continue? >> based on what we see so far, nearly 8% earnings growth at year end 2012, signs that housing is starting to stimulate additional growth in the economy, reasons to leave us optimistic for deal making in the balance of 2013. >> therefore, gdp increases as well? >> yes. you want an uptick from the 2% pace predicted as housing is less of a head wind and more of a stimulus for the economy. >> i'm thrilled about it. s&p capital iq vice president. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm happy, so much for happy, happy. heart disease, expected to cost more than $300 billion this year, and it will be more than

doubled by 2030. the american heart association, nancy brown joins us with a look at what they do to fight the deadly disease. "medical dollars" is next. >> plus, stocks rallying, less than 100 points away from the all-time high on the dow. as we head to break, let's check the treasuries beginning with the ten-year. we'll be right back. ♪ friday night, buddy. you are gonna need a wingman. and my cash back keeps the party going. but my airline miles take it worldwide. [ male announcer ] it shouldn't be this hard. with creditcards.com, it's easy to search hundreds of cards and apply online. creditcards.com.

♪ this is your fox business brief, a bullish day for the markets after a federal reserve chairman, ben bernanke, remains steadfast in the support of the central bank's stimulus policy, a stronger report on housing is pushing stocks higher. shares of flower foods also in rally mode following reports that its $360 million bid for hostess brand was uncoon tested. the deal is subject to approval by a bankruptcy court. royal jet shell is suspending its oil exploration activity in alaska for this year with plans to resume at a later day. shell already spent $4.5 billion own -- on the program, but a series of challenges led the u.s. department of interior to review it all. that's the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper. ♪

women celebrating the 10th anniversary. they saved over 600,000 lives in interest awareness, but heart disease is thee number one killer of women by 23 #% now. go red is out with the goals for 2020, and joining us to discuss them, ceo of the american heart association, nancy brown. nancy, thank you for being here. i was so uni ware of statistics. heart disease runs in my family. i'm aware at that level, but one in three deaths because of heart disease? >> one in three deaths, -- >> for females this is. >> for females, 150 americans lose lives every day because of cardiovascular disease including strokes.

>> one in 31 deaths to breast cancer. is it because we see breast cancer, going through chemomoe and things like that there's more awareness, it seems to me >> >> go red for women aims to solve that problem. we dedicated ourselves to increasing awareness that heart disease is the number one cause of death among women, and we rally women, young and old to stand behind the cause. >> talk about the cost of this because, you know, we have this whole obamacare coming down the line. there's no talk at all, real, about preventative care. what's it goinged too to the budget of the american people? >> you know, until we stand behind funding of prevention, we'll continue to see high rates of death from cardiovascular diseases and strokes. that's why we support prevention is an important part of the country's financial future. >> it has to be; right? >> absolutely. >> interesting stats, 90% of women, you said, have at least

one problem that's related to heart disease? >> yes. if you -- >> that's me. i have something. >> absolutely. we have identified -- >> that's comforting. >> great. >> health factors and behaviors, and fewer than 1% of all americans are in ideal cardiovascular health as defined. we have to help people get ahead of the risk factors. >> what are you doing? how do you meet your goal? >> campaigns, rallying people in communities throughout the country to take control of the health and heart and encouraging others to join the movement, see your physician, understand their risk for disease and stroke and make sure that they incorporate healthy eating, physical activity, and knowing risk factors as part of the every day -- everyday life. >> her red tear, lifestyle, or both? >> it's both. 80% of heard disease could be

prevented if lifestyle was focused on health and wellness, but her heredity and genetics ps a role. go to www.goredforwoman.org or americanheart.org. >> february 1st was when we are supposed to wear red. we're wearing it today. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> nancy brown of the american heart association. go home and check that out. >> i'm going to run home tonight. >> seriously, good stuff. >> absolutely. stocks rallying, up 170 points now, and nicole on the floor of the new york stock exchange approaching the all-time high. >> right. number one, we are getting closer and closer to the all-time high, up 171 pointings at 14071, there's a look at the dow joarns industrials right

now, up one and a quarter percent. the best of the bunch up 1.5% right now. the banking index has been higher, seeing gains across the board, and we are getting closer and closer to all-time highs set in october of 2007. i want to look at soda stream. they have not done much in the last 52 weeks, but the last few months have been good, up 5.5% and signed another brand adding fizz to cranberry juice. if you like cran cranberry juicd want fizz, soda stream is the name to get individuals and make them at home. they have a partnership with ocean spray and something that we have been talking about for some time, and you can see it now with the acquisition up 5.5%. certainly, a good move there for soda stream international. back to you. >> stock is bubbling up indeed. >> ha, ha, ha. >> thank you, nicole. a new report exposes millions of taxpayer dollars going to waste. another one of these stories,

and liz has the details next. >> first, take a look at some of today's winners and losers on the nasdaq. charles payne's dollar tree store recommendation up about 12%. dow up 170 points. >> way to go, carls. >> we'll be right back. ♪ [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing.

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>> new government data shows federal taxpayers paid over $156 million in 2011 for federal workers to do no work at all for federal taxpayers. well, that's money well spent. you heard that right.

for more, liz? >> taxpayers pay a lot of money for federal government workers to do union work: look at this, these numbers coming in. 156 million, look how much it's up from 2009 at 129 million. now, here's the deal. the office of personal management has data of federal workers spending 3.4 million hours in 2011, latest data available working on union duties, not working for taxpayers. that's up from 3 million in 2009, and the thing of it is that what are they doing? working for union, you know, duties because, federal worker pay is set by law, by statute, and federal workers are not allowed to strike, but in the numbers, we have three dozen workers at the department of transportation hauling in 138,000 average pay working on union duties. that's nearly 5 million in taxpayer money spent there. three new york air traffic controllers, nearly 180,000 a year, they each get paid.

working for official union duties, 17epa workers average nearly $100,000 a year in federal worker pay working on federal union duties, nearly $2 million in taxpayer costs there. here's the deal. there's about a dozen big federal union worker groups, and then there's subsets of them. when i saw the numbers, i was struck by this. 80 federal union groups and subgroups are in the federal government, and a lot of these guys are just -- and women -- just work on the taxpayer nickel, working for the union, not the taxpayer. heck of a story. that's right. >> i want that job, though. i want a job where i get paid to do nothing. >> coming out to pay for you to do the job. >> you are not allowed to strike because the benefits are set by law anyway. >> oh, liz. >> thank you. >> sure. >> all right, well, a new big media battle of pitting two giants of the industry against each other, and dennis kneale is on the story. >> imagine a day when you can

order cable channels alla cart and pay for what you pick. shunning oxygen and oprah winfrey network for nfl and speed channel. cablevision, nation's fifth largest operator of local cable systems suing viacom, a bigger company owning 22 cable channels. the case puts two legends against each other. founder of cable vision, founder of the ceo gym against red stone who controls viacom and cbs. they charge viacom forces cable vision to carry 14 barely watched channels that kale vision does not want before they carry bigger channels like mtv and comedy central. they pay for the big eight they want and plus $40 million more

than for the 14 also ones they can do without. it's a serious complaint. cable vision is belatedly challenging what's been a standard industry practice for decades, and, in fact, a consumer class action lawsuit in 2009, cable vision was a defendant and defended the practices it now denounces, but it struck a nerve. enstandpointly, won public support from time warner, direct tv, charter, and even magic johnson saying his apyred channel is crowded out by bundling deals. more meths revealed as the lawsuit filed under seal is unwrapped this weekend. some say it's a ruse, and some want to renegotiate the deal signed in december or fire a warning shot to the next big channel owner that they have to negotiate with in the next round. tracy? tracy: dennis, thank you. ashley: interesting stuff. dennis, thank you. the man who became the first

space tourist 12 years ago looking to expand even further by going to markings. multimillionaire is leading a grouped called inspiration mars foundation. he does not have a spacecraft yet or financing for the billion dollar plan. other than that, it's going great, but he's ready to invest $100 million of his own money, and the proposed trip in 2018 lasts 501 days and requires new technology to protect humans from strong radiation. if it happens, astronauts go to mars in 2035. tracy: missing variables there. >> put on your radiation suits and buckle up for the 501 day trip. tracy: in a spaceship we don't have yet, just minor. ashley: i wonder if they will do well on that trip, oh, boy. >> mars is red.

get the red stuff out. liz claman taking you through the last hour of trading. they'll talk about the money transfer business taking place oversea, especially in mobile. that's a fox business exclusive, and "countdown to the closing bell" is nextment don't go anywhere. ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when theorld moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. nd trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade.

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